Halo: Two Betrayals
by Sangheili Prophet
Summary: 7 years after the Human-Covenant war ended, the Covenant return. One Sangheili Fleetmaster makes a startling discovery that could change the fate of the entire galaxy. My first fanfiction.
1. Prologue

_Authors Note: I do not own Halo. This was made purely for entertainment purposes and not as a way to make money. Also, this is my first fanfiction, so please don't be too harsh in your reviews. Enjoy!_

**Prologue**

_7 years after the Battle of the Ark_

"_So you have found it?_" The Prophet asked the Jiralhanae Chieftain. "We have, noble Prophet." The Chieftain replied.

"_You have done well, Chieftain Ereberus. Assemble your fleets and rendezvous with my Supercarrier. The Covenant will rise again! Soon we will light the rings, and the Great Journey shall begin!"_

"Yes, Noble One."

The Prophet closed the transmission. _The Covenant will rise again. And this time, there will be no one to stop them._ Ereberus thought as he made his way to the command center of the Assault Carrier _Great Journey._

_Sangheili CCS-class Battlecruiser _Victorious Inquisitor

"Open fire." Ship Master Nyral 'Ketham said as his CCS-Class Battlecruiser fired another volley from its Pulse Laser Turrets at the Brute Corvette. "No effect, Ship Master." 'Ketham's Second in Command, Usef 'Hulsan, reported. The _Inquisitor_ shook as the Corvette returned fire. "Fire Energy Projectors." 'Ketham ordered. The _Inquisitors _forward Energy Projector fired at the Corvette, obliterating it.

This was the most recent of several attacks on Sangheili colonies by the Brutes. They were easily dealt with, but the Sangheili had to divert a lot of resources to defending their colonies, including the resources used to help their human allies rebuild their worlds.

The battle was over, at least for now. The _Inquisitor _was part of a 40-ship fleet tasked with the defense of the Sangheilian outer colonies.

"Ship Master! I'm detecting multiple slipspace ruptures! More Jiralhanae ships are arriving!" Usef shouted.

"How many?" Asked Nyral.

"500."

"Forerunners help us…"


	2. The Battle

**Chapter 1: The Battle**

The _Inquisitor _shook again as the Brute Corvette group pounded them with volley after volley of Plasma. Fires erupted in the back of the bridge, killing many Sangheili in the area. "Get that fire out!" Usef had to shout over the noise of the battle. "Target Plasma Torpedoes at the lead ship!" Cried Nyral, struggling to keep his balance as the ship rocked again and again.

"Firing torpedoes!" Usef shouted.

"Fire Energy Projectors at the other vessels! Target the ones that are recharging their weapons!"

"Firing now!"

The Plasma Torpedoes impacted the first vessels, which had already had its shields weakened by Pulse Laser fire. The ship exploded, damaging another nearby corvette. Next, both of the _Inquisitor's _Energy Projectors fired, obliterating two corvettes that were recharging their weapons. The last corvette was damaged, and began to retreat, only to be destroyed by the _Inquisitor's _Pulse Lasers.

"What is the status of the fleet?" Nyral asked.

"We have lost three ships. The Corvette _Reluctance_, the CCS Battlecruisers _Truth of the Gods _and _Unyielding Night_." Replied Usef, hands flying across his console.

"And ours?"

"Not good, Ship Master. Half of our Pulse Lasers have been destroyed or rendered inoperable. We have lost Plasma Turrets and one of our Energy Projectors is damaged. Using it again would be unwise."

"We must retreat. It is the only option. Contact the Fleet of Glorious Victory and inform them of our situation."

"But… Ship Master… We cannot retreat! It would be a dishonor to Sangheili everywhere!" Shouted a Minor who was manning the communications station.

"It is only temporary, and we will not have to go far. We can hide behind the colonies moon. The Brute ships will not be able to detect us there."

"But-"

The Minor was cut off as Nyral glared at him angrily. He turned back to his station, and carried out the Ship Master's orders, relaying the retreat order to the remaining ships. Most of them began to retreat, but some stayed where they were. _Damn it! _Nyral thought. "Open a communications frequency with those ships! Now!" Nyral shouted frantically. But he was too late. The 7 ships that had remained, most of them being corvettes or damaged CCS Battlecruisers, were destroyed by 2 Brute Assault Carriers. Nyral sighed.

"We are behind the moon, Ship Master. The Brutes cannot detect us." Usef reported.

"Begin repairs."

_4 Hours later, Slipspace_

Fleet Master Saro 'Kelan walked onto the bridge of the Assault Carrier _Righteous Justice_, the flagship of the Fleet of Glorious Victory, which consisted of over 300 ships. They had received an emergency transmission from one of the Sangheili border fleets a while ago, saying that a massive Brute fleet had arrived. Saro had ordered the fleet to immediately set a course for the Outer Colony that was under attack. The fleet was about to exit Slipspace. When they entered normal space, Saro was shocked. There were hundreds of Brute ships, far more than he could've imagined. "We are reading over 500 Brute ships, Fleet Master." A Major reported.

"Begin the attack. Can you locate the border fleet?"

"No, Fleet Master. It is possible that they were destroyed. There is some debris that most likely came from Sangheilian ships."

"No doubt they died honorably. The Brutes will pay for the blood they have spilt. Fire on the nearest Brute ship. Make them pay."

The _Righteous Justice _fired on the nearest Brute ship, a CCS-Class Battlecruiser. Plasma Torpedoes impacted the enemy ships engines, disabling them. The ship returned fire. The other Sangheili ships joined in the fight, and soon the battle intensified. The _Justice _destroyed another Brute ship, before it came under heavy attack from a Brute Assault Carrier. A Sangheili Battlecruiser began firing at the ship, but was destroyed by a second Assault Carrier, which began to fire on the _Justice_. The second Assault Carrier was engaged by a large group of Battlecruisers and Corvettes in an attempt to draw its fire away from the _Justice_. The attempt was successful, and the Assault Carrier focused on the other ships, giving the _Justice_ a chance to land several hits on it with Plasma Torpedoes and Pulse Lasers. The group of ships which had distracted it fired as well, landing a critical hit on its main hangar bay, which exploded in a brilliant display of blue fire.

A second Sangheili Assault Carrier arrived to finish of the crippled Brute ship. However, while the _Justice_ had been distracted by the other Assault Carrier, the first one had managed to move in closer. It fired Energy Projectors, severely damaging the Sangheili ship. This was followed by two Plasma Torpedoes. The _Justice_ swiftly turned towards the other ship, and began to fire on it with Pulse Lasers.

"Energy Projector two is inoperable. Plasma Turrets have been destroyed. All we have are Pulse Lasers and one Energy Projector!" The Major shouted.

"Fire the Pulse Lasers at the forward section of the Brute ship. Weaken their shields. Then fire the Energy Projector at the same location. With any luck we will be able to penetrate their shielding and land a solid hit on their hull." Saro, as confident as ever, said.

The _Justice_ fired its Pulse Lasers at the Brute Assault Carrier's forward section, weakening its shields. The Pulse Lasers were followed by an Energy Projector, which penetrated the Assault Carriers shields and damaged its forward section, totally disabling its shields in that area. Two Battlecruisers fired Plasma Torpedoes at the Assault Carrier, followed by Pulse Lasers from the _Justice_. The Assault Carrier exploded in a violet cloud of plasma.

The Sangheili on the bridge cheered. "Bring the ship away from the frontlines. We are in no condition to fight." Saro said, and the ship began to move away from the frontlines. "We may have won that small battle, but this is only the beginning."


	3. Memories

**Chapter 2: Memories**

"Repairs have been completed, Ship Master." Said Usef, as a group of Huragok began to leave the bridge.

"Good. Bring us back into the battle." Nyral said.

The _Victorious Inquisitor_ made its way back into the battle. The Brutes appeared to be losing now that a fleet had arrived. The _Inquisitor_ began firing on a nearby Brute Battlecruiser, with support from two corvettes.

Saro had been forced to abandon the _Justice_ after it had come under attack by another Brute ship. Its shields were already weakened, and it was easy prey for the enemy ship. He was now onboard the fleet's second Assault Carrier, the _Dawn of Revelation_.

"Fleet Master, we are detecting more ships coming out from behind the colonies moon! It's the Border Fleet!" A Minor reported from his station.

"So they did survive. Good. We can use the help. Target that Corvette group and-" Saro was cut off as the Brute ships opened slipspace portals and left the area. "Follow them in!" Saro received a communication from the CCS-Class Battlecruiser _Victorious Inquisitor_. The face of a Ship Master came on the screen.

"Thank you for coming to our assistance. Had you not, we would surely have been destroyed." The Ship Master said.

"You are welcome, however right now we have more pressing matters. The cowardly Brutes have retreated, and we have been able to estimate their course. They are heading to an unknown location. We need you to stay behind and protect the colony. The Fleet of Retribution will arrive shortly to reinforce you." Replied Saro. "Somehow they managed to amass a fleet that large without us being able to detect it. It does not make any sense."

"Of course, Fleet Master."

Saro closed the link. "Follow them." He said.

The fleet opened slipspace portals, and began to follow the Brutes. "We will arrive in approximately 6 hours, Fleet Master." A Minor from the back of the bridge reported. "Inform me when we arrive." Saro said, and left the bridge.

He walked down the corridors of the _Revelation_ for a while, passing many medical and repair teams as he went. He walked by the body of a young minor being carried away by two medics. He walked onto the observation deck, staring out at the blackness of space. _The Brutes will pay for what they have done. I will make sure of that._ He remembered back to the Great Schism, when he had lost everything. He had been a Major serving on board a Sangheili ship that was boarded by the Brutes. The Ship Master had been killed, along with the rest of the bridge crew. He'd taken command, and had managed to repel the Brute boarders by decompressing the areas they were in. But in doing so, he also killed many Sangheili, and to this day he still felt the guilt. For his actions in stopping the Brutes he had been promoted to Zealot. That's when things got bad. He was serving on the Ark, when he and his group had been ambushed. They were all killed, including his young brother, Levek 'Kelan. All because of a mistake he had made that day. He was about to drive his Sword into a Brute Minor, but had hesitated for only a moment when he had seen the look of fear in the Brutes eyes. That was all it had taken for the Chieftain commanding the group of Brutes to strike.

Levek had been finishing off a Captain as Saro finally got over his feeling of compassion for the Brute Minor. The Chieftain had jumped out of the shadows and struck Levek in the side with his Gravity Hammer, killing him instantly. Saro had cried out in rage at that moment, and had viciously slaughtered the Minor and the Chieftain. _If only I had paid attention. Perhaps I would have been able to save Levek._ Things only got worse when he returned home to find his family dead at the hands of the Brutes.

It was then that he swore never to show mercy to his enemies again, and made it his mission to kill every single Brute he could. He would not rest until those responsible for his family's death were dead by his hand. _Revenge is all I have left._

He knew that this was the perfect chance to get revenge on the Brutes. And that is what he intended to do. At any price.

_19 hours later_

"_Fleet Master Saro 'Kelan, report to the bridge immediately._" A voice said over the intercom, waking Saro from his sleep. Saro returned to the bridge a few moments later. Repair crews and medical teams were everywhere, repairing broken consoles or tending to the wounded.

"What is it?" Saro asked. His question was answered as he looked at the viewscreen. "By the Forerunners!" He exclaimed. Outside was a massive sphere, big enough to encompass an entire star system. It was clearly Forerunner in design. There was only one thing the Covenant could be doing here.

They were trying to activate Halo. And somehow, this… Sphere held the key.

They had to be stopped, or everything in the galaxy would die.


End file.
